RICS Library Blog

Green Deal Bulletin 15 May 2012

The Green Deal Bulletin gives a summary of the latest news stories about the coalition government's scheme to encourage home efficiency improvements such as double glazing, insulation and energy efficient boilers with no upfront payment and financed by savings on energy bills.

• PM under pressure to boost green deal incentives Further incentives urged to increase take up of the Green Deal
• Mortgage lenders and the Green Deal: raw deal or no big deal?  Discussion of who will pay for the Green Deal if repayments are not met
• British hope their Green Deal will cut energy imports by $5 Billion a year   Brief article about UK energy officials visiting the United States to share information about the Green Deal
• Queen’s Speech: 'Reform of the electricity market'   Details of Energy Bill which proposes reform of the electricity market
• Queen’s Speech Briefing Notes Includes further information about the Energy Bill
• The BBA launches Installer Guide for The Green Deal British Board of Agrément has produced an installer guide to outline the key requirements that installers need to comply with if they wish to operate under the Green Deal.
• More information from the British Board of Agrément on the Green Deal

Residential Bulletin key items you may have missed 14 May 2012

Residential market trends

An update on current trends based on data published by Land Registry, Nationwide and Rightmove

CBRE UK Residential Viewpoint May 2012  [Type market trends in the keyword box and click on search]

Europe

Residential markets in Germany (Executive Summary)

Current developments, prospects and opportunities in the residential sector.

[View the report after free registration]

Asia

High-end residential prices largely flat across Asia

Luxury residential markets in Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Mumbai.

Jones Lang LaSalle The  Residential Index May 2012

Commercial Property Market Information Update - recent key property online items you may have missed - 11 May 2012

Welcome to this week's Commercial Property Market Information Update, a selection of the 10 top free online items on commercial property and related topics including the business and economic background and covering both UK and international markets.

UK-business, economics, finance

ICAEW / Grant Thornton UK Business Confidence Monitor (BCM) Quarter two 2012
Business confidence has improved in the last three months, suggesting the UK will return to growth in Q2 2012. Despite a strong rebound in the Confidence Index, BCM supports the view that the UK’s economy will continue to ‘zig-zag’ over the next 12 months, with economic recovery still very fragile.

UK - commercial property

CBRE: In_retail magazine Spring 2012
Insightful overview of what’s going on in the High Street: reports of the High Street’s demise are greatly exaggerated ; expectations of a return to normal after four years downturn are now fading ; private equity deals are increasingly being seen as the reason why some retailers have taken a beating; the evolution of e-commerce ; speculative development activity is close to a record low and investment activity is at a very low ebb.
[Highlight Retail in the Sectors box, then click on search]

United Kingdom: Complying with a tenant break clause 09 May 2012 Article by Joe Brightman (Attwells Solicitors)
Important recent case of Avocet Industrial Estates LLP v Merol Ltd [2011] showing the consequences of a tenant not complying with the terms of a break clause.
[You may need to register (free) to view this article in full]

CBRE Global Investors: UK Propertywatch - Q2 2012

Europe

AEW Europe: European Real Estate Quarterly April 2012
Highlights – Real Estate Investment Markets - Office Market - Retail Market – Logistics Market – Residential Market – Economy and Capital Markets – Individual Country Data and Commentary.

Asia Pacific  

DTZ : Property Times India Offices Q1 2012 2 May 2012
Demand remains subdued
Provides an analysis of the office market in a key RICS market, India:  economic and real estate overview; Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Pune, Kolkata, and Hyderabad markets.
[You need to register (free) to view DTZ reports]

Jones Lang LaSalle: China Property Market Monitor - April 2012
Highlights key developments or trends in a RICS key market, China,   in China's real estate market during the past month, with a focus on Guangzhou, Tianjin, Chengdu, Beijing and Shanghai property market.

Jones Lang LaSalle: The Office Index May 2012
Important index of rental movements in the key city office markets across the Asia Pacific region. This issue sees a slowing of office rental increases across the region but capital values proving to be more resilient.

United States/Americas

CBRE Global Investors: US PropertyWatch - 2Q 2012

International

Propertywire: premier global property news service
International news relating to commercial property, hot topics, free guides and online magazine.

Residential Bulletin key items you may have missed 8 May 2012

Welcome to the latest issue of Residential Bulletin, a selection of freely available online items relating to residential issues.

UK Housing Market 

Mainstream

A round up of recent house price results records continuing decreases in prices as illustrated by

• 0.6% decrease in March (Land Registry) 
• 0.4% decrease in April (Halifax)
• 0.2% decrease in April (Nationwide)   

UK Rents

London rents predicted to rise by 3.25% over next 12 months (Young Index Private Rented Sector Sentiment Report)  
 

Flooding insurance alert

Council of Mortgage Lenders warns that households in flood risk areas are going to have difficulty in finding  insurance cover after the agreement between the Government and Association of British Insurers  ends in 2013. Mortgage lenders and insurers viewpoints outlined. CML News and Views (8) 2 May 2012 

Squatting becomes a criminal offence

Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012   which received Royal Assent on 1 May has made squatting in residential property a criminal offence. 
 

Beds in sheds task force

A national task force headed by Housing Minister Grant Shapps and Immigration Minister Damien Green with representatives from the police, UK Border Agency and representatives from local government has been set up to tackle the issue of sheds and outbuildings being illegally let out to migrants, many of whom have entered the UK illegally.
DCLG News Release 30 April 2012

Commercial Property Market Information Update - recent key property online items you may have missed - 4 May 2012

Welcome to this week's Commercial Property Market Information Update, a selection of the 10 top free online items on commercial property and related topics, including the business and economic background and covering both UK and international markets.

UK - commercial property

BCSC: Shopping Centre Development Pipeline 2012
The primary aim of this study is to focus attention on what is actually happening with retail regeneration on developments over 50 000 sq ft.
The research focuses on town centre development rather than out of town or supermarket schemes.

DTZ: Money into Property 2012 UK 24 April 2012
Filling the Gap.
Part of DTZ's flagship publication "Money into Property " which charts the development and structure of the global investment market, this report focuses on the UK and provides an in-depth look at the current state of the real estate market together with our outlook for local investment opportunities.
[You will need to register (free) to view DTZ reports]

Savills: Shopping Centre and High Street Bulletin Quarter 1 2012 April 2012
2012 will be the turning point in this consumer cycle. Trading remains tough. Some retailers believe that there will be an Olympic boost this summer. Only 12 shopping centres were sold in Q1 2012 totalling £461.m. The high street investment market has started quietly this year. Prime high street yields are likely to remain at their current level in the near future but secondary yields could harden.  
[You will need to register (free) to view Savills' reports]

Europe

Pramerica Real Estate Investors: European Quarterly Outlook April 2012
Executive summary:macro-economic themes - implications for commercial real estate; Economic trends: concerns over the future of the Eurozone; Transactions and pricing: investment activity retreating; Debt markets: banks under pressure to reduce exposure; Property markets: offfice - take-up weakens but there are signs of recovery; retail bifurcation between low and high end; logistics weal occupier outlook; Investment performance: investors focus attention on North European offices; attractive risk-adjusted investment opportunties  - Europe.

Asia Pacific/Oceania

DTZ: Money into Property 2012 Asia Pacific 26 April 2012
Growth expands beyond China
Part of DTZ's flagship publication "Money into Property " which charts the development and structure of the global investment market, this report focuses on the Asia Pacific region and provides an in-depth look at the current state of the real estate market together with our outlook for local investment opportunities.
[You will need to register (free) to view DTZ reports]

United States/Americas

Pramerica Real Estate Investors: Latin American Quarterly Outlook April 2012
Executive summary:macro-economic themes - implications for commercial real estate; Economic trends:growth steady in Mexico and Chile, Brazil faces challenges; central banks changing course in Brazil and Chile; Property markets: low-income housing continues positive trend; retail outlook improving across the region; office strong employment climate keeps demand robust; autos driving demand in Mexico; Brazil's industrial market strong; Attractive risk-adjusted investment opportunties  - Latin America.

International

DTZ:  Money into Property 2012 Global 26 April 2012
"Money into Property" charts the structure of the global investment market, covering 42 countries across Europe, Asia Pacific and the Americas. Provides a global focus
and an in-depth look at the current state of the real estate market together with our outlook for local investment opportunities.
[You will need to register (free) to view DTZ reports]

Savills: Insights World Cities Review Spring 2012
Presents the latest figures for ten world class cities. Discover cities compared in 2012 and the differences between 'old' and 'new' cities.

The City UK: Monthly Economic Reports April 2012 (Oxford Economics)
Global - Brazil – China – GCC –  – India – Russia – South and Sub-Saharan Africa – Turkey – Asean.

Trial of an enhanced ejournals service

RICS Library has been offering our members access to Ebsco Business Source, a full text database of an extensive collection of ejournals for a few years now.

Ebsco have recently introduced an addtional part of the service called Ebsco Business Source Plus which we are trialling for 30 days.

As well as the current content it has three key additional services.

1.       An additional 1400+ full text journals

2.       Interactive company reports and intelligence

3.       Associated Press News and links to 850,000 web new services – creating a streamlined tool to find content outside of EBSCO.

To see this content just go to our e-resources page. You will need to use your member login to see the page as this is a member only service. Click on Search EBSCO e-journals. Once you see the Ebsco search screen try a search and you will see new blocks of information on the right hand side headed "Associated Press feed" and web news.

We'd love to know what you think so email us on library@rics.org and tell us if you find it useful. Be quick because the trial ends at the end of  May.  

New BIM ebook

Just added to the Library ebooks collection, The Impact of Building Information Modelling by Ray Crotty, published in 2011. 

Find other BIM items in our online library catalogue

Residential Bulletin - key items you may have missed 23 April 2012

Welcome to the latest issue of Residential Bulletin, a selection of freely available online items relating to residential issues.

House prices

UK

Mainstream

A round up of recent house price results.

• 0.2% increase February 2012 ONS .
  NB (CLG House price index has been replaced by ONS House Price Index)

Prime

• London markets increased by 2.8% 1 Qr 2012 Savills
• Regional markets increased by an average 0.6% 1 Qr Savills

UK Private sector rents

• Rents fall by 0.3% in March (LSL Buy to Let Index) 

Commercial Property Market Information Update - recent key property online items you may have missed - 20 April 2012

Welcome to this week's Commercial Property Market Information Update, a selection of the 10 top free online items on commercial property and related topics including the business and economic background and covering both UK and international markets.

UK - commercial property

Acuitus: cPad Market Flash – Commercial Property Auction Data April 2012
Sales volumes and sale rates are both up while buyers have increasingly looked beyond the confines of London and the south east for investments.

CBRE: Scottish Offices Market View Q1 2012
More quarterly take-up in the Glasgow office market since Q2 2010. Demand in Edinburgh’s office market has held up well this quarter, 13% over previous quarter and 31% more than the long-term average quarterly average. Aberdeen is again the best performing Scottish city in terms of office take-up in Q1 2012.
[Click on the pdf at right of screen]

Cushman & Wakefield: The UK Property Investment Market - April 2012
Prime yields were broadly stable at an average of 5.76% in March, but secondary yields found themselves under increasing pressure. In fact it is only a lack of transactional evidence which has prevented a marked outward shift thus far.
[You will need to sign up (free) with the Knowledge Center to view C & W reports]

GVA: The Big Nine: quarterly review of the regional office occupiers market Q1 2012
Prospects for the regional office market have improved significantly since the end of 2011. Improved market sentiment has encouraged occupiers with upcoming lease events to start their property search while quality stock is still available. Birmingham – Bristol – Cardiff – Edinburgh – Glasgow – Leeds – Liverpool – Manchester – Newcastle.

UK – facilities management

FM World: Sustainability still tops FM agenda 19 April 2012
Sustainability is still one of the most significant issues for facilities and property managers despite the last two years of economic hardship, according to panellists at this week’s FM & Property Event.

Europe

BNP Paribas: Western Europe Investment at a Glance Q1 2012
No end in sight to markets divergence - April 2012
On a rolling year basis, total investment volume amounted to Euros 41.4bn in our nine primary markets in Q1 2012. The 9% average increase compared to the previous year differs among individual countries of course.
[You will need to create an account (free) to view BNP Paribas reports]

BNP Paribas: Western Europe Offices at a Glance Q1 2012 16 April 2012
Economic downturn ends vacancy rate decline - April 2012
The downward trend for office demand in the second half of 2011 was confirmed in early 2012. Globally, Q1 2012 saw weaker activity in most of the 9 primary Western European office markets compared to the same period last year.
[You will need to create an account (free) to view BNP Paribas reports]

IPD: IPD Pan-European Annual Property Index - results for the year to 31st December 2011
The IPD Pan-European Annual Property Index measures the combined performance of real estate markets in eighteen countries.The Index is based on the IPD indices for
Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain,Sweden, Switzerland and the UK and the KTI index for Finland. The return in 2011 in local currencies was 6.6%.

MENEA

Jones Lang LaSalle: Dubai Real Estate Market Overview - Q1 2012  
Signs of investor confidence have returned and the Dubai investment market continues to witness strong interest for high quality, well located, income producing assets.

Asia Pacific/Oceania

Knight Frank: Hong Kong Monthly April 2012 – review and commentary on Hong Kong’s property market
Grade A office market remained the weakest Hong Kong property sector in March. The retail sector combined to outperform on the back of strong retailer demand. The residential market posted further rebounds during the traditional peak season.
[Click on Asia Pacific and Commercial in the Refine box then click on title]

International

Knight Frank: Global Real Estate Markets 2012
Annual Global Real Estate Markets report provides an overview of commercial property trends across the world, with analysis for markets in Europe, North America, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa.
[Click on Global in Refine box then on title]

New Uniclass proposals

Proposed Unified Uniclass tables for comment 

Construction Project Information now have six tables available for the consultation process in which you are invited to comment and help develop the Unified Uniclass. 

Further details and sending comments 

Find out more about Uniclass or search our online library catalogue for Uniclass

RICS on the CPI Committee

Green Deal Bulletin 18 April 2012

The Green Deal Bulletin gives a summary of the latest news stories about the coalition government's scheme to encourage home efficiency improvements such as double glazing, insulation and energy efficient boilers with no upfront payment and financed by savings on energy bills.

Deputy Prime Minister unveils more help for poorest under government home improvement scheme  Nick Clegg announced that £540 million of the government’s home energy efficiency programme will be targeted at helping the poorest in society

Government expresses doubts about Green Deal Reports that elements of the governments Green Deal scheme will be made voluntary. Proposed 'Consequential Improvements' that would require homeowners to make their properties more energy efficient when carrying out home improvements could now be scrapped. These proposals are contained within the 2012 Building Regulations Consultation which closes on 27 April 2012. More details on this in the item below.

2012 Building Regulations Consultation -  Identifying the changes needed to Building Regulations This includes details of the proposals to introduce  ‘Consequential Improvements’ for properties

Easier to read summary - 2012 consultation on changes to the Building Regulations in England 

Department of Energy and Climate Change page on the Green Deal

Residential Bulletin - key items you may have missed 16 April 2012

Welcome to the latest issue of Residential Bulletin, a selection of freely available online items relating to residential issues.

UK house prices

Mainstream

• Asking price increased by 0.2% in March - first increase in 20 months (Hometrack)
• House prices increased by 2.2% in March (Halifax)
• House prices increased by 2.9% in March (Rightmove)

Prime

• London rents fell by 0.1% in March (Knight Frank Prime Central London Rental Index) [Scroll down to find Prime Central London Rental Index] 
  

Social housing finance

HM Treasury's Consultation on reforms to Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITS) outlines proposals on how

• Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT)s could support social housing sector
• Tax treatment of REITS investing in REITS
• Consultation closes on 27 June 2012. 

Global

Knight Frank and Citi Private Bank's annual Wealth Report 2012  provides a global perspective on prime property and wealth. 

Key items of interest include:

• Knight Frank's Prime International Residential Index (PIRI)
  Citi's High Net worth individuals (HNWI)s  attitudes survey
  Knight Frank's Global Cities Survey
  Citi's Global City Index
  

Commercial Property Market Information Update - recent key property online items you may have missed - 13 April 2012

Welcome to this week's Commercial Property Market Information Update, a selection of the 10 top free online items on commercial property and related topics including the business and economic background and covering both UK and international markets.

UK - commercial property

Capita Symonds: Central London Office Overview Q1 2012
It was all quiet on the occupier front in quarter one as the central London leasing market recorded one of its most sluggish openings to the year.
Overview -  City -  West End -  Midtown -  Southbank -  Dockland - City Fringes – Map.

Colliers International: Property Snapshot April 2012  
The UK Budget was neutral, although it is seen as pro-growth and has support from capital markets. Eurozone worries have eased on the back of the ECB’s injection of €1 trillion into the European banking system; many problems remain though.

Knight Frank: UK Market Outlook April 2012
Provides a brief update on the key investment, financial and economic indicators relevant to the UK commercial property market, along with expectations for future performance.
[Click on UK and Commercial links in the refine box, then click on title]

Europe

Cushman & Wakefield: Europe: Retail MarketBeat Shopping Centre Development Report March 2012
Shopping centre provision increased by nearly 3.6 million sq.m in the second half of 2011. This brings the European completion total for the year to 5.9 million sq.m - virtually identical to the 2010 figure. Central and Eastern Europe accounted for 65% of new space added.
[You will need to sign up (free) with the Knowledge Center to view C & W reports]

Cushman & Wakefield: Financial Markets Weekly Snapshot - Week 15 10 April 2012
A review of the past weeks financial and real estate market data for week commencing 10th April.
[You will need to sign up (free) with the Knowledge Center to view C & W reports]

CBRE: PropertyMatch surpasses Euros 1bn of trades (new release) 10 April 2012
PropertyMatch, the secondary marketplace for units in unlisted real estate funds across Europe, has transacted over €1 billion of trades following a flurry of activity in Q1 2012.

MENEA

Knight Frank: Dubai Office Market Report Q1 2012
Dubai remains the pre-eminent business destination in the Middle East. Large amounts of new secondary office stock has been completed. Well located, single ownership buildings buildings will continue to attract and retain tenants. Prime headline rents remain unchanged over Q1 2012.
[Click on Middle East in the Refine box, then click on title]

Asia Pacific/Oceania

Colliers International: Vietnam Research and Forecast Report Q1 2012
Property sector overview - Market indicators: economic - office - retail - apartment.

IPD: IPD Japan Monthly Property Index - results for the year to 31 December 2011

United States

Studley: SERI Report, National, 2012
The Studley Effective Rent Index (SERI) provides the real estate industry with the only comprehensive, in-depth study of effective rental rate trends for prime Class A office properties in the nation’s major central business districts and selected suburban markets.

Studley: SERI Report, National, 2012 - Supplement
A year-end 2010 major market comparison of availability, leasing activity, sublet supply, rental rate declines, concessions, free rent and office using employment.

FM's the place to be

Facilities management (FM) is a successful sector providing surveyors with employment opportunities at both strategic and operational levels.

Our latest Starting Point on Facilities Management is a wide-ranging introduction to FM for new entrants to the property professions, trainees and students.

Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012

New regulations The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 came into force on 6 April 2012, updating previous asbestos regulations to take account of the European Commission’s view that the UK had not fully implemented the EU Directive on exposure to asbestos (Directive 2009/148/EC).
 
Find out from HSE  what has stayed the same and what has changed.
 
Read the new Regulations

For further sources of asbestos information see our FAQ How can I find out about asbestos?